The traffic system consists of road network, road users, vehicles, and regulations. As the years go by, the traffic system in European countries changes over time as a result of the development of new roads, the wear and tear of old roads, the introduction of new regulations, and the change in the composition and quality of vehicles. The age composition of the population of road users also changes slowly over time, with a general trend that road users over 60 years old will be more strongly represented in the total population in the years to come. Moreover, changes in the economic and social climate have a strong influence on the traffic system. In countries with strong dynamic economic growth, the road network must cope with a sizeable increase of economic traffic. Over time, road users have new experiences in the traffic system that lead them to a change in the way they feel and think about traffic matters. This chapter studies the changes of European road users with respect to attitudes towards regulations, measures, and self-reported behaviour. To describe changes in attitudes and self-reported behaviour over time is the main aim of the chapter. The chapter is arranged as follows. In paragraph 1.2 we explain the method of analysing and describing the results. In paragraph 2 we present a summary overview for those readers who want to get a quick comprehension of the major changes between 1996 (SARTRE 2) and 2002 (SARTRE 3) in norms and attitudes regarding road safety and self-reported behaviour. This paragraph also contains a short conclusion for each separate country (Paragraph 2.3). For the readers who are particularly interested in the changes in separate countries, we have described these changes in paragraphs 3.2. to 3.21. The description of the changes in individual countries follows an alphabetical sequence with Austria being first (Paragraph 3.2) and United Kingdom being last (Paragraph 3.21). (Author/publisher)
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